There must also be a flyable computer available for Nefarious to do FSO. So he doesn't keep talking about it for eight and a half hours on Friday night!
Wonder how long they have been deployed......
As big as a football field?!? That is a target of opportunity for the terrorist to take out.
Super Blimps - While ordinary airships operate about 1,500 feet above the ground and can cruise at about 5,000 feet maximum, researchers at Purdue University are looking at creating an airship intended to fly about 65,000 feet, well above commercial airliner traffic.
The High Altitude Stratsopheric Airship is a similar project being funded by the Defense Department at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. That ship also is designed to fly at 65,000 and provide a high level, stable surveillance platform. One proposed use for the airship is to monitor the millions of cargo containers -- only a fraction are actually inspected -- that arrive at U.S. ports each year. The researchers say their blimp could be outfitted with high tech sensors to scan the containers before they touch land.
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon said Thursday that it intends to spend $400 million to develop a giant dirigible that will float 65,000 feet above the Earth for 10 years, providing unblinking and intricate radar surveillance of the vehicles, planes and even people below.
The viewer sends FMNN this feedback: "The U.S. Army [is already] using these blimps over here in Iraq, I can say with confidence, since at least 2004 (I've been over here since 2003, DoD Technician, before the invasion). A smaller scale but, large, and used for the same exact purposes. They are floating around over Baghdad, constantly, 24/7. Had I not been such an avid observer of the stars. I probably would have never noticed them. Nevertheless, they are not that hard to view, even with the naked eye."
Thinking about it logistically it makes sense. Put it in a suspected hideout area and it will see if anyone comes or goes. Currently with the predator drones people could hide when they see it and come back out when they are gone. This way it will be in the area for such a long time that someone is bound to be spotted. I imagine it would have a psychological impact in that we are constantly watching over the area.I assume 20k would be too high for a shoulder launched missile or else this thing just makes no sense. There are not any SAM sites in the area. however that 500million bill makes me suspicious some of the money is going somewhere else. That is 1/4 the cost of the B2
Thats why they also have the Global Hawk.
